Golf practice mat or the like



Filed April 22, 1957 INVENTOR:

m in. wm 5T MH 7b d m 1L Patented July 19, 1938 UNETED STAT-ES PATENT OFFICE GOLF PRACTICE MAT R THE LIKE Mitchell G. Rosengarten, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application April122, 1937, Serial No. 138,284

Claims. (Cl. 273-33) My invention relates to golf-practice apparatus cardboard disc, the bristle wires serve to keep it and the like, and especially to a mat from which upright without the use of a tee device or other golf-missiles can be played or driven. The invenholding means, and release it easily and natution also involves a novel combination of a mat rally When it is struck.

5 and a coacting missile-disc. For convenience, I Various other features and advantages of my f5 use the word driving in a broadway to express invention will appear from the following descripthe playing of a golf missile with any golfclub or tion of a species or form of embodiment, and the like, without regard to the strict technicalities from my drawing. All features shown or deof golf parlance as to the particular club or imscribed are, indeed, of my invention, so far as plement used, or the `force of therstroke: e. g., novel over the prior art. 1-0 as including equally the very `strongest strokes Inthe drawing, Fig. I is a tilted or perspective with a driver and the verylightest shot. I aim vview of one form of mat constructed in accordto provide a mat that will simulatefasclosely as ance with my invention, with a missile disc therepossible the conditions of ordinary-outdoor golf on ready for driving.

on a regular golf course. `FigsII and IIIare fragmentary sectional views, 15

In ordinary golf, some kstrokesfare made from a taken as indicated by the lines and arrows II--II tee resting on bare ground; but more are made and III-III in Fig. I. without any tee, from the greenswardor fairway: yFigs. I, .II Aand IIIshow la -mat comprising a i. e., with the ball lying in grassor on earthithat facing-E surfaced-with upstanding wire 'bristles 6 2c is rather yielding if touched or struck bythe club. set in a fabric'base l, which is backed with a 20 In some places where golf shots are practiced, orsheet of `sponge yrubber 8. The facing v5 and dinary cocoa mats (like doormats) are used `to backing B are shown mounted lin :a frame lll simulate grass; 'but such mats do not last-well which lmay be of any desired shape and of any under the severe punishment of continual use; suitable material andconstruction, sheet metal if.; do not really approach actual'playingconditions being preferred. The frame I0 is shown fairly 25 very closely; and offer some danger of catching Wide and bevelled outward, with a gentle slope the club on a hard downward stroke andv snapping from the top surface ofthe facing 5 down to the it off, or injuring the wrist of the player. iFor oor all around, .whereit joins a back plate Il practice with light cardboard missile-discs, mats that underlies the backing 8. It may be made of and tee supports are disclosed in my .Patent No. asubstantially rectangularmetal sheet, by bend- 30 2,011,014 of August 13, 1935 and in myapplicaing its marginsinwardzaftercutting away pieces tion Serial Number 15,550 led April 10, 1935 at the corners. In Figs. II and III, an outer which approximate the conditions of driving from width .of the :inturned margins is lshown bent a tee, but do not correspond so well-toshots from down as at l2, so .as to rest on the .back lplate l I s the greenswardor fairway. and engagezthe edges of the sheets Tand The 35 I have found that the conditions of ordinary abutting surfaces ofv these sheets 'l and 8 are prefoutdoor shots from the fairway can be rather erab1y-secured together, as by rubber Cementl, 6105615 applOXimed by Using a mat surfaced and the-backof the sheet'B may be similarly sewith 'bristles of suitable :stiffness and length set Cul-edt@ the plate was -by rubber Cement indi- 40 close together in a base'which is somewhat yieldcated at |4. AS Shown irl-Fig. .IL the Wires 5 are 40 mg Vrtlcauy- A matenaluat answers Very Wen arranged or bent to slope slightly in the intended for the facing 1s commercially available, consistdirection of driving which is indicated by .the mg Gf me lothmg used for'cardlng'-macmnes m arrows in Figs. I and II. The arrow I5 in Fig. I

the-xme ltldustry' AS 1a mean? of mountmg the is intended to ybe painted or otherwise marked on 4o facmg to yield downward res1l1ently,.I preferto the frame um so that the proper direction for back the facing with a moderately resilient locally yielding pad, such as a thickness of fairly stiff dr1v1ng Willalways beobtruded on the attention elastic sponge rubber. Such a matmay be used of the, playelf' 'Al' the rear endof the frame mf" for driving ordinarygolf balls; or for golf prac- Speakmg Wltn refrence to the arrow 5i-a 50 tice balls or missiles of any ordinary or preferred nge "5 p'rolects lm wal'd OVer the tops 0f the 50 type, Such as the cotton bau Sometimesusedvfor wires yt, which are slightly displaced downward.

indoor practice; and especially .with ctarbclzrd lgllS-lantge t Ily be'fOlItIld bida dgve fOld Of missile-discs such as shown in my'Pa en os. E 518 fm@ a Omlng 1S.S1 e 0 e rame,

1,980,701, granted `November 13, :.1934 and abovefthe downturnedportionlZ. The underside 2,011,014, granted August 13, 1935. 'With such a ofthe backplate I l .may;havea sheet or pad of 55 felt Il cemented to it, to prevent the mat from slipping on the floor or scratching it.

Fig. I shows a cardboard missile-disc 20 (such as mentioned above) stuck in the mat in convenient position for driving; and in Figs. II and III, the outlines of such a missile-disc are indicated in dot and dash lines. The upstanding bristle wires 6 hold the disc 20 securely, by engagement of the disc margin amongst them, or by impalement of the margin on some of the wires, or in both these ways. The proper engagement of the cardboard disc 2U with the bristle wires 6 occurs automatically: all the player has to do is to press the disc edge firmly against the bristle surface of the mat, and then release the disc when he feels that he has forced it into the mat somewhat. The disc edge impales itself firmly on such wires 6 as it encounters endon, and elastically deflects other wires 6 slightly, the wires 6 being resiliently flexible relative to the general plane of the mat. The player then plays or drives the disc 20 just as if it were a golf-ball lying on the fairway, or on a tee. The disc 20 releases itself easily from the ends of the bristles 6, which slope diagonally upward in the direction of the disc flight, as shown in Fig. II the release of the missile disc 28 is facilitated by the downward displacement of the facing 5 by the club and the lateral exure of the bristles 6, both of which also avoid injury of facing and bristles by the club. If desired, of course, a tee clip such as shown in my Patent No. 2,011,014, granted August 13, 1935, or in my application Serial Number 15,550, filed April 10, 1935, could be used in the mat with a missile disc 20; but in general it is unnecessary.

When a golf ball or any ordinary form of golf practice missile is used, it is merely laid or thrown on the surface of the mat, as on a fairway, Without any attempt to press or force it down on the bristles 6, as described above in the case of the cardboard disc 20.

For any type of missile that might be used on it, from an ordinary golf ball to a cardboard disc, my mat affords conditions closely approximating those on the ordinary fairway: i. e., when a club strikes or scrapes over the mat, the bristles 6 bend down before it with a yielding cushion effect, like the turf of a fairway. Like the earth of a fairway, also, the resilient backing 8 under the card cloth or similar facing 5 yields locally to cushion the stroke and let the club pass more easily,-thus minimizing wear on the card cloth. In other words, the facing 5 yields downward under the pressure of the club, in addition to the lateral yielding or flexure of the wires 6; but the bristles return spontaneously to erect, even-surfaced condition. Provided the stroke is made with the bristles 6 as shown in Fig. II (and not against them or cross-wise), it has been found impossible to catch the club in the bristles 6, even with a stroke that has a somewhat exaggerated downward component. With a cocoa mat, such catching of the club sometimes happens,- resulting in a broken stick, or an injured wrist for the player. With an outward-bevelled metalsurfaced frame I0, it is also practically impossible to catch and break the club against the frame by an ill-aimed stroke,-unless, perhaps, the lower edge of the club-head should hit squarely against the angle-bend between the -top surface of the frame and the bottom plate l I, which is very unlikely. The edges of the facing 5 and backing 8 are effectively protected by the frame I0, whose top edge is almost even with the ends of the wires in Figs. II and III, though a trifle lower.

As already stated, the construction of ordinary card-clothing answers very well for the facing 5. Such card-clothing commonly comprises a stout, flexible base 'l with fairly short bristle wires 6 fixed therein and projecting a certain uniform distance therefrom, parallel with one another. The base 'l may be of rubber, leather, or stout textile fabric: I prefer textile fabric, which may advantageously be saturated with rubber, which is afterward vulcanized to leave the rubber elastic but rm. The wires 6 are preferably fairly stiff, resiliently flexible, fine steel wires such as generally used in card cloth, and set rather close together. Fine wires 6 projecting about a quarter of an inch from the base and set about thirtythree thousandths to one twentieth of an inch apart answer very well, particularly with a cardboard disc 20 about thirty-nine thousandths of an inch thick.. In the drawing, the size and spacing of the wires 6 is of course exaggerated for the sake of clearness of illustration. Commonly, pairs of adjacent wires 6 of card cloth are united behind the base l, so that they are in effect like staples driven through the base from behind. In card cloth, the wires 6 are customarily bent slightly all in one direction, as shown in Fig. II, which is advantageous for my purpose. The lat eral flexure of the wires 6 seems to be partly due to their own resiliency, and partly yielding in the mat. The rubber saturation of the mat minimizes internal Wear amongst its threads due to this. One commercial grade of card clothing which I have used with good results is #28 CWC of American Card Clothing Co.

For the elastic backing 8, I may use sheet sponge rubber about a half inch thick, preferably fairly stiff and resilient rather than very soft. A commercial grade which has given good results is 4075 black sponge rubber of Lee Tire and Rubber Co.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

l. Game apparatus comprising in combination a plain cardboard missile-disc, adapted to be propelled by a stroke of a golf club against its edge, and a driving mat comprising a facing mounted to yield resiliently downward under a stroke of a club and surfaced with upstanding bristle Wires resiliently flexible relative to the facing and of such length and stiffness and so spaced as to impale and receive amongst them the margin of the plain cardboard missile disc, when it is pushed edgewise against the facing, so that the facing and its bristles hold the disc upright to receive the stroke of the club, yet temporarily yield downward and laterally under such stroke, thereby avoiding injury of the facing and releasing the disc more easily.

2. A golfers driving mat comprising a facing composed of a flexible base surfaced with bristle wires upstanding free of lateral support above said base, and resiliently flexible relative thereto, so that they yield laterally under a golf club stroke at a missile on the mat, and means for mounting said facing to yield resiliently down- Ward under such a golf club stroke, all so that the bristle wires and facing spontaneously return to erect, even-surfaced condition after the stroke.

3. A golfers driving mat comprising a facing composed of a flexible base surfaced with bristle Wires upstanding free of lateral support above said base, and resiliently flexible relative thereto, so that they yield laterally under a golf club the surface of the pad and itself surfaced with upstanding bristle wires resiliently flexible relative to said base.

5. A golfers driving mat comprising a facing composed of a flexible base surfaced with upstanding bristle Wires resiliently flexible relative to said base, a resiliently yielding elastic pad under said base, and a frame enclosing the edges of said facing and pad, and at one side overhanging the facing bristles and beveled outward 10 and downward.

MITCHELL G. ROSENGARTEN. 

